Electrical circuitry often must be protected from disruptions caused by electromagnetic interference (EMI) entering the system.
Frequently today's electronic circuitry requires the use of high density, multiple contact electrical connectors. There are many applications in which it is desirable to provide a connector with a filtering capability, for example, to suppress EMI. To retain the convenience and flexibility of the connector, however, it is desirable that the filtering capability be incorporated into connectors in a manner that will permit full interchangeability between the filtered connectors and their unfiltered counterparts. In particular, any filtered connectors should also in many instances retain substantially the same dimensions as the unfiltered version and should have the same contact arrangement so that either can be connected to an appropriate mating connector.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,334 discloses an electrical connector wherein a chip capacitor is secured between a contact pin and a ground plane. Electrical connection between the electrodes of the capacitor and both the signal and the ground is maintained by using a resilient conductive means, such as an elastomeric connector. U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,907 discloses a filtered electrical connector wherein the chip capacitors are maintained between the signal contact pin and the flanges of the ground plane.
It would be an advantage to have chip capacitors maintained between signal contacts and a ground bar on the connector. It would also be an advantage to have chip capacitors maintained within the connector without using soldering.